House Party
It was a gloomy, rainy day. The weather seemed to be in very bad shape. Fortunately, Anna knew how to make the best out of a bad situation. She knew that throwing a party in the house was a perfect choice. She was looking forward to meet all her friends, and she knew it was going to be lots of fun. She had invited all of her friends, and all of them included only one outcast: A socially awkward boy named Adam. ---- Adam walked down the street and turned to the house on the left. He knew it was the right one. He came up to the front steps and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing Anna. "Hi, Anna," said Adam, trying to act casual. "Hey, Adam! Come right in!" said Anna cheerfully. Adam walked inside and hung his umbrella. "Thanks for inviting me, Anna," he said. "You're welcome, Adam!" said Anna. As Adam came into the living room, he could hear music playing and conversations abound. He decided to meet a few people and strike a conversation himself. "Um…hi," he said as he walked to a group of people. "Hey, I know you," said a male with dark hair and glasses. "You're the guy who sang a love song to a girl named Taylor on YouTube!" Adam was a little embarrassed. He kind of liked Anna, but he didn't expect anyone to know that he used to like other girls as well. "And the party has just started…" thought Adam. ---- "I'm gonna serve some refreshments for the guests," said Anna. "You wanna help?" "Um, no thanks," said Adam. "I can just mingle for a bit. I'm a friendly guy, so I'll make some new friends." He was a little bit nervous, though. He knew that mingling and making small-talk with perfect strangers could be a rather difficult thing to do — especially for socially awkward people like him. As he walked by the snack table, he could see that someone had their face buried in the bean dip. He then heard someone else laughing. "Hey! Did you see that?" cried a guy in a red sweater. "Johnnie just fake sneezed into the bean dip!" Two other people beside him burst out laughing, but Adam just rolled his eyes and kept on going, looking for someone to mingle with. Suddenly, he saw three young men telling lame jokes to each other. He decided to mingle with them, hoping that he'll make them laugh using his charm. ---- Adam listened to the trio's lame jokes, pretending to like them. "And so the monkey says: 'But I don't even have a computer'!" said Willy. Two other boys in the group laughed. "Ha ha…I get it.." muttered Adam. "You like that, huh?" said Dave. "Huh? Oh…yeah's that's funny," said Adam, trying to agree. "That's a good joke." "Well," said Dave. "Did you hear the one about the guy standing all alone at the refreshments stand?" Upon realizing what that meant, Adam became a little annoyed. "Hilarious…" he muttered to himself as he walked over to the snack table, where Anna had served the refreshments for the guests. Adam picked up a cup and poured himself a little soda. "A few seconds with the crowd and it's an utter failure," sighed Adam, taking a sip from his soda. ---- Anna looked around. She couldn't see Adam anywhere, and she wondered where he went. "Hey, Faith, have you seen Adam?" she asked, walking over one of her friends. "Um, nope," said Faith. "Sorry, Anna." "I went upstairs to paint my nails, and he disappeared!" said Anna. "Maybe he went home," suggested Faith. "I don't think so," said Anna. "I mean, he was a bit nervous about coming to the party, but he couldn't have just left!" "That's true…" said Faith. "It's a big house, so he could be in a lot of places," said Anna. "He could be in the basement, he could be in the den, he could be in the game room…he could be just about anywhere!" Anna looked around to find Adam. Suddenly, she heard a sound coming from the closet. She opened it to see Adam playing a game on a tabloid that he brought along. "Um…Adam?" asked Anna. "What are you doing in the closet?" "Huh?…Oh!" said Adam as he noticed that Anna was standing there. "Well, at least I found something to do instead of standing at the refreshments stand." "Typical Adam," thought Anna, as if she could care less. ---- "Uh…hi there," said Adam as he greeted a boy in a black shirt. Adam wanted to strike up a conversation with someone so he could make some new friends. "Do I know you?" asked Billy. "I don't think so," said Adam. "My name's Adam. I'm here because Anna invited me…obviously. I want to make a good impression on her and prove that I'm good person. I like her and all and…" "Ohh yeah! Anna! The host of this party!" said Billy, cutting him off. "Anna's a babe! Every guy in this neighborhood has the hots for Anna! And you say that you're here because you want to make an impression on her…right?" "This conversation isn't going quite how I had hoped," thought Adam. Since he was being a little too socially awkward, it was time for another trip to the refreshments stand. As Adam stood at the refreshments stand and ate a bowl of potato chips, he thought to himself, "Okay, so none of these clowns will talk to me? Fine! I prefer it that way! It's less stressful to just hang out by myself at the refreshments stand! I actually don't even want to be noticed by a bunch of strangers that I don't even know!" Suddenly, someone said, "Hey! Why is there a pencil in the punch bowl?" "Huh?" Adam thought as he dropped the remainder of his chips. "What in the punch bowl?" He ran over to see a pencil in the fruit punch. "Who put that in there?" he wondered as he fished the pencil out of the bowl. "No one is going to want to use this pencil, because it's soaking wet with punch! I'm never gonna drink fruit punch again." As Adam threw the pencil away, he saw Anna walk over to him. "Hey, Adam," said Anna. "How's it going?" "Uh…it's okay, I guess," said Adam. "This party is average, in my opinion." "Well, I'm sure you've found a way to pass some time here," said Anna. "What have you been up to?" "Uh, well, I've been mingling with other people," said Adam. "They usually find me by the refreshments." "Well, that's good to know," said Anna. "I hope this party gets better for me," thought Adam. "Or else I'm just going home." ---- Adam and Anna were dancing to music that was being played by the DJ. Anna loved the song that was playing and really enjoyed dancing to it. "I love this song!" said Anna as she danced with Adam. "Whew! We need a break!" said Adam. "All this dancing is making me tired." "I don't need a break!" said Anna. "I want to dance more!" "Can I dance with you, Anna?" asked a boy as he walked over to Anna. "Sure, Ryan!" said Anna. "You don't mind that, do you, Adam?" "Me?" Adam chuckled nervously. "No! Don't be silly! Ha ha ha!" As Adam saw Anna dance with Ryan, he sighed. "Oooooh, boy. This really isn't going well." Adam was jealous that Anna was dancing with a different boy instead of him. "So Anna's dancing with somebody else!" he thought. "Well, two can play at that game!" Feeling a little more confident, Adam walked around to see if there was someone he could dance with. "If she can dance with the first boy that notices her, I'll dance with the first girl that notices me!" As Adam saw a girl in the middle of the room, he told her, "Excuse me, do you want to dance?" "No way!" said the girl. "Get lost!" Adam walked off frustratedly. "Well, I can do it…eventually." he thought to himself. ---- The party was over. The rain had stopped, and the sun was shining. All the guests had left. Everyone, except for Adam, who stayed behind to help Anna clean up the party mess. "What a great party!" said Anna. "Wasn't it fun?" "Yeah," said Adam. "Fun." Anna looked at Adam, a little bit worried. "You don't sound like it was fun," she told him. "Well…your pals didn't exactly welcome me with open arms," admitted Adam. Anna understood now. Adam was a nice guy and all, but he was also a slight introvert, which meant he wasn't quite used to making new friends outside his circle. "Well, they're not used to you, that's all!" replied Anna. "You just have to get to know them." "Really?" said Adam. "Of course!" said Anna. "You may have not had a blast at my house party, but since you're socially awkward, it'll just take some time for you to get used to people who are outside your small circle." "She's right…" thought Adam. "Anna's a good friend as well. She's not going to do anything to make me feel left out, because she's a very nice girl." As they finished cleaning up, Adam got ready to go home. "Thanks for helping me, Adam," said Anna as Adam went for the porch. "You know something, Anna?" said Adam. "Sometimes, I don't think parties are my type of thing." "Oh, that's okay," said Anna. "I know that you may be a bit introverted, but I know that you can find a way to straighten up your social skills." "I guess you're right," said Adam. "I guess I'm lucky to have a friend like you, Anna." "You certainly are," said Anna, cheerfully. "See you tomorrow, then," said Adam as he walked down the steps. "You too!" said Anna. As Adam made his way home, he began to think to himself that even though the house party didn't go as well as he had planned, he knew that things did turn out well, thanks to a special girl. Category:Stories Category:Fantasy